TKS Player of the Week

Freshman Samantha Nichols is this week’s Player of the Week. (Photo courtesy of Knox Faces)

This week, freshman Samantha Nichols participated in the Monmouth College Fighting Scot Invitational along with fellow freshman Kailey Bruns, and captured first place in the entire tournament, finishing a full three swings of the second place finisher.

This was not the first strong performance for Nichols this year, as she took third place at the Augustana Highland Classic, and eighth place at the Indian Springs Invite. However, Nichols was able to find a new gear this past weekend, cruising on the second day thanks to an even-par score of 72. This incredible finish allowed her to surge past all the golfers who finished the first day ahead of her, catapulting her way into a commanding first place finish.

Not only did she win this tournament, but Nichols is also the first woman medalist for Knox golf since the 2002 season, breaking a long streak and effectively announcing her arrival to the Knox golf program.

A resident of Hawaii, Nichols chose to bring her incredible skills to Knox and promises to be a dominant force in the MWC women’s golf scene for years to come, as her and fellow teammate Bruns try to bring women’s golf at Knox back to the forefront of the MWC competition.

Look for Nichols to make a strong push for the lead at the MWC Championships on Oct. 7-9, as she looks to put an exclamation point on her historic season.

Jonathan Schrag is a junior majoring in Political Science and double minoring in Educational Policy Studies and History. He has been writing for TKS since Fall Term of his freshman year and has contributed to News, Sports and Discourse. He served as the Sports editor during his sophomore year and has won several awards from the Illinois Collegiate Press Association.